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Apple’s “Crush!” ad showed a hydraulic press flattening instruments, books, cameras, paint and other creative objects before revealing a new iPad Pro. The intended message was that one thin tablet could bring many tools together. Many viewers saw the opposite: a machine destroying the things that make creativity human. Apple apologized on May 9, 2024, saying it had “missed the mark,” and said the spot would not run on television.
What the “Crush!” ad showed
Apple released “Crush!” on May 7, 2024, alongside the launch of its M4-powered iPad Pro. A massive industrial press descended on a platform crowded with objects associated with making and consuming culture. The sequence showed musical instruments, paint and brushes, cameras, books, a record player, television equipment, sculptures, arcade hardware, audio gear and analog tools such as a typewriter being crushed. When the press lifted, the new iPad Pro was revealed.
The spot borrowed from the familiar internet genre of hydraulic-press videos, where objects are compressed for spectacle. Its product metaphor was straightforward: many creative tools, condensed into one portable device. Apple’s launch centered on the M4 chip, thin design, Ultra Retina XDR display and support for Apple Pencil Pro and Magic Keyboard. The 2024 iPad Pro came in 11-inch and 13-inch sizes; Apple described it at launch as its thinnest product to date. Apple’s launch announcement set out that product context.
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The objects were depicted as being crushed; the controversy was about the image and its meaning, not evidence that Apple destroyed functioning cultural artifacts for the commercial.
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Why viewers read the image as destruction
The ad showed obliteration, not the act of making
For most of the spot, viewers watched creative objects disappear beneath a machine. There was no artist drawing, composing, filming, performing or building. The only visible transformation was destruction followed by the arrival of a corporate product. That made “many tools in one device” feel to some like “everything that came before is obsolete.”
The press carried a message of power
A hydraulic press is not a neutral visual stand-in for a creative workspace. It is enormous, industrial and faceless; its motion is forceful and apparently irreversible. It flattens difference into uniformity. For critics, that visual grammar made the ad look less like technology empowering people and more like technology exerting control over culture.
Some commentary described the look as a “fascist aesthetic.” That phrase is best understood as rhetorical criticism of the ad’s authoritarian-looking imagery—not evidence that Apple endorsed fascism or a claim about the company’s political beliefs. The “fascist aesthetic” wording appeared in a VentureBeat headline; wider reporting documented criticism of the spot as dystopian or hostile to art.
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The timing amplified anxieties about creative work
The ad did not mention generative AI. But it landed amid debate over AI systems trained on artists’ work, automation of creative jobs, and whether technology firms treat creative labor as material to be absorbed and reproduced. The imagery gave those concerns a vivid metaphor: a machine swallowing creative tools and replacing them with a single device. Axios connected the backlash to creator anxiety about AI and the future of work.
AI was part of the context, not the explicit subject of the commercial. Some objections focused simply on seeing books, instruments and art objects destroyed, regardless of AI.
Who criticized the spot—and what they objected to
Criticism came from a mix of artists, creative professionals, commentators and Apple users, not from a measured poll of customers. Actor Hugh Grant called the ad “the destruction of the human experience.” Justine Bateman criticized the destruction depicted in it; filmmaker Reed Morano urged Apple to “read the room”; and Basecamp CTO David Heinemeier Hansson said the spot represented what people disliked about digitization. MacRumors summarized these reactions and Apple’s response.
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The disagreement was not simply between people who like technology and people who oppose it. Viewers could believe an iPad is useful for drawing, editing or music production and still find this particular metaphor needlessly antagonistic. Nor does the ad establish that an iPad literally replaces a piano, camera, paintbrush, physical book or arcade cabinet; it compresses a creative workflow into a sales image, not a one-for-one account of what the device can do.
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Repair common Windows errors and clear accumulated junk for a smoother, more stable PC - no reinstall needed.Free scan · no reinstallWhy “Crush!” clashed with Apple’s brand story
Apple has often presented personal technology as a way for individuals to think and create more freely. “Crush!” appeared to reverse that promise: instead of showing a tool in an artist’s hands, it showed a powerful machine destroying the artist’s tools. Contemporary coverage contrasted the ad with Apple’s famous 1984 Macintosh campaign, which cast the company against conformity. The comparison made the reversal especially conspicuous. The Washington Post discussed the apology and the television decision.
That reversal helps explain why a product ad drew a broader reaction than a routine disagreement over taste. Apple was trying to say that technology can gather creative possibilities in one place; the staging made the technology look like the force that eliminates those possibilities.
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- PERFORMANCE AND STORAGE — iPad Pro with M5 brings next-generation speed and the power of on-device AI to all your tasks.* Featuring up to 2TB of storage, 16GB of memory, and Neural Accelerators for next-level AI performance.*
- IPADOS — Run pro apps and get more done with iPadOS 26 with Liquid Glass design and game-changing capabilities.* With an intuitive and flexible windowing system, you can control, organize, and manage your workflows like never before.
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Apple apologized, then declined a television run
The reaction intensified after CEO Tim Cook shared the spot on X on May 8. On May 9, Apple marketing communications vice president Tor Myhren apologized in a statement to Ad Age. He said Apple wanted to empower creatives and had “missed the mark.” The statement acknowledged a failure of creative judgment and tone; it was not an admission that the iPad Pro was defective or that Apple had intended to attack artists. The Guardian reported on the backlash and apology.
On May 10, coverage reported that Apple would not run “Crush!” on television. That is different from saying the company removed it from every online channel: at the time, reports said it remained available online. The documented decision was to abandon a TV run, not to claim a complete internet deletion. MacRumors reported the distinction.
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What the controversy does—and does not—say about the iPad Pro
“Crush!” was an advertising failure, not a test of the device’s capabilities. The 2024 M4 iPad Pro could support a range of creative workflows, but no tablet is interchangeable with every physical instrument, tool or material shown in the commercial. The backlash also does not establish a sales impact or prove that all Apple customers rejected the product; the available reporting documents prominent criticism, not a measured shift in demand.
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- PERFORMANCE AND STORAGE — iPad Pro with M5 brings next-generation speed and the power of on-device AI to all your tasks.* Featuring up to 2TB of storage, 16GB of memory, and Neural Accelerators for next-level AI performance.*
- IPADOS — Run pro apps and get more done with iPadOS 26 with Liquid Glass design and game-changing capabilities.* With an intuitive and flexible windowing system, you can control, organize, and manage your workflows like never before.
- APPLE INTELLIGENCE — Apple Intelligence is the personal intelligence system that helps you communicate, express yourself, and get things done effortlessly with groundbreaking privacy protections at every step.*
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For anyone considering an iPad now, separate the 2024 controversy from the product generation currently on sale. Apple’s U.S. buying page, checked August 16, 2026, listed a 13-inch, 256GB Wi‑Fi configuration at $1,499 and showed M5-based models; storage and cellular configurations cost more. That dated price is a configuration-specific signal, not a universal price, and Apple’s live listings may change. Apple Pencil Pro and Magic Keyboard are separate additions, so a creative setup can cost more than the tablet’s headline price. Check Apple’s current iPad Pro configurations.
The right choice depends more on workflow than on the ad. An iPad Pro is a natural fit for people already invested in iPadOS, Apple Pencil, iCloud or creative apps built for the platform. An iPad Air may suit general drawing, notes and editing if the Pro display and peak performance are unnecessary. Android users who value Samsung’s S Pen environment and multitasking can consider the Galaxy Tab S11 line: Samsung’s March 2026 U.S. MSRP sheet listed the 12GB/256GB Wi‑Fi Tab S11 at $859.99 and the same-storage Wi‑Fi S11 Ultra at $1,199.99; those are MSRP figures, not guaranteed current transaction prices. Samsung’s March 2026 MSRP sheet provides those figures.
A Surface Pro is a better fit for someone who needs Windows desktop applications and a laptop-tablet hybrid, though it is less aligned with a tablet-first Apple Pencil workflow. For any option, factor in software needs, operating-system preference, storage and accessories before comparing headline prices. Microsoft’s Surface Pro page lists its current device range.
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